Ranma's Travels
by Ammadeau
Summary: Ranma gets perminantly stuck as a girl and goes on journey in search of a cure.


Ranma's Travels  
(A Ranma One Half / Multi crossover)  
By Ammadeau  
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org  
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm  
  
Prologue  
  
[Note: This takes place in an alternate reality of Ranma 1/2,   
deviating sometime during the arrival of the Musk in Nerima.]  
  
Before going off to hunt down Herb, Ranma had decided   
that there was one thing he had to know. Being permanently stuck   
as a girl had caused him to do a little thinking and he realized that   
there was a good chance that he wouldn't be able to get the   
unlocking kettle before Herb did. It might even be years before he   
would find a cure.  
That was why he found Akane in the kitchen. He was so   
caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize that she   
was on the phone and hadn't noticed him enter.  
"Akane, I know we've had some problems and all, but   
we've gotten through them all right before. This, I don't know, but   
it might be some time before I can ever be a man again. I'm not   
really sure how you feel about my curse, but was wondering will   
you still be my fiancee if I'm stuck like this?"  
The next words Ranma heard cut through him like a knife.   
"What kind of pervert do you think I am?" The only thing worse   
than the words was the tone that Akane used, a mixture of anger   
and disgust.  
It was all Ranma could do not to cry as he ran as fast and as   
far away from her as she could.  
Akane looked up from her phone call in surprise. She   
couldn't believe that he friend Yuka had suggested that her hatred   
of Shampoo was really a front to cover the fact that she was   
attracted to the Chinese Amazon. The very thought made her ill.  
  
[Note: From now on, Ranma will be referred to as a 'she' whenever   
he is in female form.]  
  
Ranma had won, defeating the Musk prince with a last   
burst of strength that she hadn't known that she had. She did so   
well that Herb was dying from wounds too severe for anyone to   
heal. The Chinese prince knew it though, and as a departing   
gesture destroyed the very thing Ranma had been fighting for,   
sealing within his girl body forever.  
"Now you will never be a man again," Herb had spat with   
his dying breath before her eyes lost the light of life. Ranma ran   
from in despair, not wanting to face anyone. She stumbled over a   
strange-looking bracelet that Herb had dropped during their fight   
and without even thinking about it, pocketed it.  
Sometime later, Ranma sat on a cliff top and contemplated   
her fate. She wondered if the others were looking for her right   
now, unsure if she wanted to be found or not. She remembered   
how she had asked Akane before she went to face Herb that would   
they still be fiancees if she were stuck as a girl. "What kind of   
pervert do you think I am?" was her reply. It was clear that there   
was one person who wouldn't miss her, but then she was only   
person that really mattered. Her mother would see him as Ranko,   
her father would lament the loss of his heir, and Mr. Tendo would   
weep about how their lines would never be joined. The other   
fiancees? Well, they couldn't be hers anymore since she was pretty   
sure they'd feel the same way Akane had. There was nothing left,   
not even her manhood. The Art remained, but that was the very   
thing that had gotten her into this predicament.  
Ranma took out an old and ornate bracelet. "What do you   
do I wonder?" Ranma spoke to the object, more to help herself   
think than it would actually respond. "Not anything that can help   
me, I bet."  
It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. She leaned   
over the edge of the cliff and allowed herself to fall, but she never   
hit bottom.  
  
World 1: El Hazard  
  
Note: This takes place after the first OAV series and overwrites the   
second. It draws on ideas (and ignores others) from both the   
second OAV and second TV series.  
  
Miz stood before two of the three main obstacles to her   
future happiness, her fellow high priestesses, Afura Mann and   
Shayla-Shayla. The third, the source of her impending bliss, had   
decided to climb a mountain someplace.  
Things had been quiet ever since the Bugrom Empire had   
been nearly wiped out by the Eye of God. Rostaria was in the   
process of rebuilding and most demands on the high priestesses   
could be easily relegated to the many minor priestesses who lived   
and worked at Mt. Muldoon.  
Miz had decided that this was the perfect time to get   
hitched. She had been surprised that it had only take three jugs of   
wine in order to convince Mr. Fujisawa to propose. She saw this   
as undeniable proof that he was hopelessly smitten with her. Her   
true difficulty had come from an unexpected direction.  
"It clearly states in the rules you agreed to follow," Afra   
Mann intoned, pointing out the relevant passage in the Priestess   
Handbook, "that no high priestess can take on any other duties   
during her term."  
"And that includes marriage," Shayla-Shayla added a little   
irritably. They both had wanted to cancel this meeting so they   
could go to the palace. Miz suspected that the fire high priestess   
was more eager to see Makoto again, than to follow the orders of   
Rune Venus. Miz herself wasn't needed for whatever plan the first   
princess of Rostaria had, for which she was thankful.  
The whole problem had come up during the 'official'   
monthly meeting of the High Priestesses of Muldoon. Living in   
the same place, even with their various duties that took them to all   
ends of El Hazard, they met quite frequently. However, when she   
had become Wind high priestess, Afra Mann had suggested that   
they set one day each month aside for official business, especially   
those matters in which they didn't want the other priestesses that   
lived there to overhear. Miz had presented her news expecting   
congratulations, and perhaps a touch of envy. She didn't expect   
such vehement objections to her nuptials.  
"You're both so cruel!" she complained.  
"Now Miz, all you have to do is train a replacement," the   
high wind priestess told her. "Have her take over your duties and   
you'll be free to do whatever you want."  
"Because we are not going to cover for you," the high fire   
priestess added.  
"But I don't have a replacement!"  
Miz didn't think that it was fair that out of the few   
priestesses to choose Water, none had passed the final tests   
required to become a high priestess. Afra Mann and Shayla-Shayla   
had people to take their place, but neither of them were interested   
in retiring.  
"Well, you better go find one soon if you plan on getting   
married before you become an old maid."  
Miz stomped off in anger.  
  
Sometime later, she was relaxing at the small onsen they   
had in Mt. Muldoon. It wasn't nearly as nice as the one in the   
Desert of Bleached White Bones, or the one in the palace of   
Rostaria for that matter, but having used her rank to claim it all to   
herself, it was adequate to relax her current tension, somewhat at   
least.  
She'd already tried asking around the other priestesses of   
the temple for a replacement, even going as far as trying to lure   
away some priestesses of Wind and Fire, but when they heard what   
the job entailed or the final test, they all refused. Most of them   
wouldn't have passed the tests anyway. She wondered what had   
happened to the younger generation that none of them were willing   
to devote all of their time and risk their very lives for the   
priesthood.  
The worst thing of all was enduring the company of Houri,   
the last of her old friends that she had made in priestess school, and   
the only one beside herself who remained single. Houri had   
recently become engaged and had a marriage to look forward to in   
a few short months. She had tried to sound nice about it, but she   
was obviously taunting the high Water priestess with the fact that   
she would be the last of their group to be married. It never   
occurred to Miz that Houri was acting much in the same way as   
Miz had when they had passed over Houri for the position of high   
Water priestess. Miz so wanted to be married first so she could rub   
it in that old cow's face, but it looked like it was simply not meant   
to be.  
Miz tried tossing a coin and praying before one of the   
fountains for help, as she had seen her beloved do once. What she   
needed was a replacement high water priestess. Someone young,   
female, didn't mind a little hard work, wasn't afraid of danger, and   
had a natural affinity for water. Now where in the world was she   
going to find someone like that?  
"Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"   
yelled a female voice somewhere above. Before Miz could even   
look up, the fountain exploded all around her as something heavy   
landed in it. Miz was prepared to get very angry at whoever caused   
her to become soaked to the bone, but was too surprised when she   
found a young girl lying unconscious in the fountain.  
  
Consciousness came back gradually to Ranma, as if she   
was pulling herself out of a tar pit. Finally, when the world blurred   
into focus, she found that she was staring up a purple-haired   
woman that she had never seen before. Everything else was still   
hazy and indistinct.  
"Am I dead?" Ranma asked softly, and then coughed up a   
little water.  
"No, you're not," Miz told her, "though you nearly were.   
What is you name? Where did you come from? There shouldn't   
be any airships in the area."  
Miz had assumed the young lady had fallen out of an   
airship that had somehow been knocked off course, but certainly   
one of the priestesses on duty would have noticed the ship and   
informed her. Yet she had told them that she was not to be   
disturbed for all but the gravest of matters. Either way, Miz had   
pulled the girl out of the fountain and had tried to make her as   
comfortable as she could until she regained consciousness.  
*My name, huh. I can't tell her Ranma, since I'm stuck as a   
girl. Explaining why I have a boy's name just wouldn't be worth   
the effort. Besides, how can I be Ranma anymore when I'm never   
going to be a guy again?*  
"I'm Ranko, Ranko Saotome. I sort of fell off a cliff."  
Miz looked all around her. They were on the top of a   
mountain, there weren't any cliffs above them that she could have   
fallen from. There were the rock monoliths and tops of high   
buildings from which she could have fallen, but Miz would have   
certainly seen her. "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Ranko said, getting up and working   
a few kinks out of her body. "Guess I survived. Nothing to do but   
try again. From the top of one of those monoliths should be high   
enough."  
With a the grace and agility of a spider monkey, Ranko   
climbed up one of the monoliths as Miz watched on, stunned.  
"Wait!" Miz shouted at her. "You can't do this!" She   
would be able to save the girl if her powers were working, but the   
few seconds it would take to activate them could be the difference   
between life and death.  
"I don't care!" Ranko shouted back from near the top of the   
monolith. "I've got nothing to live for!"  
And with that, Ranko leapt from her high perch.  
Immediately, she realized that something was wrong. She   
wasn't falling. She looked down to see Miz looking up at her   
wide-eyed. There was nothing under her feet. She should be   
falling to, if not death, than at least some severe pain. Instead she   
was just standing there, as if the air were solid ground.  
"What the heck's going on?" Ranko shouted up at the sky in   
rage. It seemed that some powerful force was conspiring against   
her. She couldn't even commit suicide if she wanted to.  
"You must be from another world!" Miz shouted once the   
realization hit her. It should have been obvious from the   
beginning: the sudden arrival, the strange clothes, and even   
stranger abilities.  
"What?" asked Ranko, feeling that this didn't quite explain   
how she could walk on air.  
"When people come here from another world they gain   
strange powers. The man I intend to marry gained incredible   
strength. There's another who can see through illusions. You must   
have gained the ability to fly!"  
"Then why didn't it work when I first came here?"  
"I don't know, maybe it takes time for the power to   
manifest. I'm not an expert of such things. If you want to know,   
you should talk to Dr. Schtalubaugh."  
"I'll just have to find some way else to die then!" Ranko   
shouted as she looked around. What did it matter where she was?   
She had nothing left to live for. She could try to drown in one of   
the onsens, but they weren't that deep and she didn't know if she   
could keep herself down long enough.  
"You can't die!" Miz shouted back. "You're the answer to   
my prayers!"  
"What?" Ranko asked, confused. The fact that this lady   
never seemed to make sense was starting to get on her nerves.  
"I prayed to have a replacement high water priestess and   
you came! It's fate! Please, you have to help me!"  
Ranko had no real desire to die, she just had nothing to live   
for. "I don't know about this!" she shouted back, uncertainty clear   
in her voice.  
"Could you at least come down so we don't have to keep   
shouting?!" Miz said with some irritation.  
"I don't know how!"  
  
Through mostly trial and error, Ranko learned that she   
could control her flight be simply thinking of where she wanted to   
go and then she would glide there. It also seemed that this ability   
to fly was temporarily shut off when her feet were firmly on the   
ground. Actually, float would be a better term for this new power   
since her top speed in flying wasn't even as fast as she could run.  
As Ranko figured this all out, Miz gave her a hundred and   
one reasons that she should become the high Water priestess. It   
wasn't surprising that most of them had to do with her planned   
marriage. By the time Ranko reached the ground, her already   
shaky resolve had mostly faded.  
  
"All right, I'll do it," Ranko said finally.  
"Really? You will?" Miz asked, sounding very excited.  
Ranko nodded once. She had decided that this might just   
be the purpose that she was looking for. If she couldn't find the   
happiness she wanted, then she could make others happy. Being a   
high water priestess sounded like the sort of thing that would keep   
her so busy that she wouldn't have much time to reflect on the past.  
Ranko was really surprised when Miz embraced her tightly   
and babbled, "Oh thank you, thank you!"  
The pig-tailed girl pried herself out of the grip of the   
ecstatic priestess and said, "But I want to meet these people from   
another world first. They might be able to tell me how I wound up   
here, not that I have anything to go home to. And that doctor you   
mentioned, he might help me get better control of my flying."  
"Very well, I will take you to Rostaria," Miz replied. There   
didn't seem to be much risk in that since her new apprentice didn't   
seem too keen on going home. "But only if you undergo the trials   
to see if you can become the high water priestess first."  
"Trials?"  
"Three tests to prove you have what it takes. Don't worry,   
I'm sure that you'll have no trouble with them." Or at least the first   
two, Miz thought to herself.  
  
Little did either them know that Houri had observed all this   
from her hiding place up in a tree. She was one of the water   
priestesses that didn't actually live at Mt. Muldoon, but at one of   
the posts scattered throughout El Hazard. She had taken such a   
post just to get away from Miz, not knowing that part of her duties   
would mean frequently visiting Mt. Muldoon.  
Her delicate face frowned as the two began speaking in a   
normal tone of voice so she could no longer overhear them. Houri   
was quite the beauty, easily the best looking of her friends with her   
soft, pale skin, green eyes, and long black hair. Of course, she had   
chosen this appearance for that very reason. Though she thought   
her natural blue skin was much prettier, humans tended to hate or   
fear members of the Phantom Tribe, so a disguise was needed to   
live among them. She could have used her power of illusion to   
move closer to the pair, but she had known for some time that Miz   
could somehow sense whenever she was near, even when she was   
disguised as someone else.  
Houri no longer considered herself a member of that   
backward, male-dominated society who spent all their time either   
moaning injustices inflicted on their ancestors or plotting revenge   
against the descendants of the wrong-doers. *What's done is   
done,* Houri thought. *Since we're stuck her on El Hazard   
forever, we might as well enjoy it.* She didn't even know what   
was supposed to be so great about their original home planet   
anyway. She had never seen it, she had been born right on El   
Hazard. Personal revenge, however, she understood all too well, as   
she contemplated the many wrongs that Miz had made against her.  
Miz. The very name was enough to drive Houri into a rage.   
They had known each other since they were teenagers and while on   
the surface they had always been polite to each other, underneath   
there was a deep-seated rivalry. At school, among their friends, the   
local festivals; each one was an occasion to prove which of them   
was the best. They had come out about equal, with perhaps Houri   
a little ahead to due her illusions, when Miz suddenly declared her   
interest in becoming the high priestess.  
Houri didn't care at all about being high priestess; to her the   
powers one was given weren't worth the responsibilities, but since   
this would prove Miz was better, she was forced to compete. And   
compete she did, harder than she ever had for anything before, but   
in the end Miz had still won. Even if the Houri had been the type   
to forgive, she would have never, ever forgiven Miz for that.  
Now it had come down to the final contest, marriage.   
Houri could have been married some time ago, with her looks and   
charm there were no end of offers. She'd yet to find a human that   
met up to her standards. Despite what she had told Miz, she still   
hadn't, but was sure she could find someone suitable before the   
date she had set. It would be easy for her to dispose of him when   
he no longer served any purpose.  
She had also been sure that the few little suggestions she   
had made to her fellow priestesses would have kept Miz tangled up   
for at least a year, but from the sound of things she had just found   
her replacement. If Miz was able to rush this girl through training   
she would be able to be married right away and Houri would suffer   
a final, humiliating defeat. All of their friends would be kind to   
her, giving her enough pity to make her sick, all the while laughing   
at her behind her back. Houri could not let that happen.  
  
"Keep digging!" Katsuhito Jinnai shouted to encourage his   
loyal workers, the bugrom which he had renamed after the Marx   
brothers. Sure, they'd been given to him by Queen Diva, but he   
really thought of them as his now. Hadn't he earned them with all   
of his wonderful plans and mighty conquests? If Ifurita hadn't   
turned against him in the end, he would be ruler over all of El-  
Hazard. People would worship him as a god.  
"Damn you, Makoto!" he shouted the Most Hated Name in   
frustration, belonging to his life-long rival, who seemed to get a   
perverse joy in making Jinnai's life hell.  
"It was he who was going to impeach me, it was he who   
brought me to this god-forsaken land, and it was he who had turned   
the lovely agent of destruction against the rightful ruler of El-  
Hazard!"  
And that was why Jinnai was down in the ruins under   
Queen Diva's palace, searching through them for the remote   
possibility of finding another ultimate weapon, one that would put   
the world in his grasp again. Thankfully, the ruins hadn't been   
further damaged when the Eye of God had laid waste to the   
Bugrom Empire. They had all been searching for over a week   
now, but he was sure that there was something down there.  
"What are you doing, Mr. Jinnai?" rang out an imperious   
female voice from above, her supreme majesty Queen Diva, ruler   
over what was left of the once omnipotent Bugrom Empire.   
Actually, their forces were building back up rather quickly, a secret   
they were sure to keep from outsiders. She had already made plans   
to take back what they had once gained in the recent war.  
"This city is from the same era as Ifurita and the Eye of   
God, right?"  
The purple-haired queen simply nodded.  
"So what if they had some secret weapon too, only Ifurita   
had attacked before they could use it? Some ultimate weapon that   
might even be better than the Eye of God could be lying around   
here someplace, all we have to do is find it."  
"We have searched through this city many times before and   
found nothing of that nature."  
"Yeah, but then you didn't have old Jinnai here to help   
you," he replied with a smile.  
Their conversation was interrupted by the excited chittering   
of the Bugrom Jinnai had renamed Zeppo.  
"What? You've found something? Quick, let me see!"  
The bugrom brought him to a door where Queen Diva   
joined them. At first Jinnai didn't see what all the excitement was   
about. It was a door, so what? There were thousands of doors in   
these ruins. He had opened many of them himself and found   
nothing. But then he saw something on it, a carved symbol that   
stirred some memory inside him. He cleared away the dust and   
gasped.  
"What?" asked Queen Diva. "What is it?"  
Jinnai had only seen the eye symbol three places before. At   
the ruins under the school, at the cave of the Demon God, and also   
on the Eye of God. He could feel it in his bones that this was what   
he had spent days searching for.  
"Quick! Open it!" he shouted to his servants, rubbing his   
hands together in glee. "Makoto," he thought out loud, "today your   
time of reckoning is at hand!"  
The bugrom shrugged and spoke a little.  
"What do you mean you can't open it?" Jinnai roared.   
"Find a way!"  
"Allow me, Mr. Jinnai," Queen Diva said as she strode up   
to the door, placing her hand atop the carved eye symbol. The door   
opened slowly.  
"How did you do that?" Jinnai asked her in surprise.  
Diva smiled and said, "We all have our little secrets, Mr.   
Jinnai."  
Queen Diva entered the darkened doorway, Jinnai and his   
bugrom assistants followed close behind.  
There was a large vaulted chamber beyond. It was filled   
with all sorts of strange instruments, but what drew the eyes of   
everyone was the table in the center of the room, on which lay a   
Demon God.  
  
"So what are these three trials anyway?" Ranko asked   
impatiently as Miz was searching her room, collecting items here   
and there for no obvious purpose. She noticed that most of them   
were clothes like Miz was already wearing. *Were they going on a   
trip to some training ground?* Ranko realized that for once she   
didn't have to worry about packing, since she was wearing all she   
had.  
"First, you have to wear this," Miz told her as she thrust the   
clothes she had collected into Ranko's hands. "They're some of my   
old things, so they should be able to fit you, more or less."  
"What?" Ranko thrust the clothes right back at her. "No   
way I'm wearing these girly clothes!"  
"Then you have failed the first trial already." Miz's voice   
was filled with a passable imitation of disappointment. Ranko   
failed to notice her ruse.  
"Huh?"  
"The first thing a water priestess must do is look like one.   
How else are people going to able to know who to turn to in times   
of danger? You can't very well do that unless you dress the part."   
While Miz knew that there was no uniform per se, she   
didn't want her replacement to be seen in a simple shirt and pants.   
Afra Mann may allow her by the way Ranko looked now, but Miz   
wasn't going to leave anything to chance when her future happiness   
was at stake. It just wouldn't do for her replacement to dress like a   
boy.  
Ranko gently picked through the clothes as if afraid to   
touch them, a grimace frozen on her face. These 'things' seemed   
even worse than she had first suspected. Practically transparent   
pants and a top meant to hug her chest. Ranko absently noted that   
these being Miz's things, the top was going to be really tight on her.  
"Are you sure that I can't have something less, you know . .   
. feminine to wear?"  
Miz looked at Ranko oddly. She was dressed strange, but   
the water priestess had first dismissed it as proper fashion for the   
world the girl was originally from. Did not Nanami dress in a   
similar way? Now, however, she did notice how much more the   
clothes resembled Makoto's wardrobe, though a bit more flashy in   
color. But this was clearly a girl. Something was wrong here, but   
Miz couldn't figure out what.  
"Will you give in so easily, just over what raiment you have   
to don?" Miz asked formally.  
"Huh?" Ranko said, confused by both the question and the   
manner in which it was asked.  
Miz decided to try a different tactic. "Does your word   
mean so little that you would break it so quickly?"  
Ranko suffered a bit on that one. She had given her word   
and her honor was about all she had managed to preserve so far. If   
she lost that, she really would have nothing. She hung her head   
and replied, "No."  
"Good! Then you'll try on the clothes?" Miz asked with   
excitement. *Maybe this will work out after all!*  
Ranko nodded, but added as she walked away to get   
changed, "But there's no way in hell I'm wearing any panties!"  
Miz wondered what that was about. She certainly didn't   
give the girl any of her panties to wear. She thought she would   
have her own. *Ranko is certainly a strange girl, but then it does   
take a particular sort to be a high priestess of Mt. Muldoon.*  
In the room Miz had given her, right next to her own,   
Ranko looked over the various items of clothing as if they were   
covered in some horrible slime. For her, it might have been better   
if they were, then she wouldn't note how much this new outfit   
would show off her figure. Ranko never had much in the way of   
feminine modesty before, but just thinking of her female form was   
enough to bring home how she could never become a man again.   
It hurt to think of how much she had lost, not just her manhood,   
but her family, friends, and the only home she had truly known.   
Ranko shook her head to clear it of her depression and quickly   
changed into the clothes Miz had given her to try to distract herself   
from such morbid thoughts. She had given her word and was   
determined to see this out to the end.  
Ranko came back some time later in an outfit that was   
identical to the one Miz wore. Her face was as red as her hair   
though, and her hands were balled into fists. Clearly, she wasn't at   
all happy about her new clothes, but either Miz didn't notice or   
chose not to.  
"Okay, so what's the next trial?" Ranko asked through   
clenched teeth. This one was bad enough, she just wanted to get   
this over with. She liked baggy pants since they gave her freedom   
of movement, but these were way too baggy, and the top was so   
tight that she almost had trouble breathing. One thing was for sure,   
she was taking this stupid outfit off as soon as the trials were over.  
"Oh, no no no. You haven't completed the first trial yet.   
Not only must you look like a water priestess, but you must act like   
one also. I think that we should do something about your hair as   
well."  
"No way! I like my hair the way it is!"  
"Fine, the hair isn't such a big deal anyway," Miz said, but   
inwardly she was disappointed. A pig-tail was just so plain, too   
plain for such bright red hair. It should be styled similar to what   
she wore, since she obviously had great fashion sense. "We'll have   
to start your instruction on proper behavior right away though. I   
can tell that we've got a lot of work to do."  
  
So began some of the worst training Ranko had ever gone   
through since the neko-ken, and even that was debatable. And she   
wasn't learning any martial arts! Just stupid girly stuff that Ranko   
loathed because it brought her closer to her second greatest fear,   
that of becoming a girl, in both mind and body. But what did she   
really have to lose? Even if she could somehow find a way back   
home, there still wasn't a cure for her curse. Akane would still hate   
her and her mom wouldn't even recognize her.  
"No, no!" Miz shouted, half anger, half exasperation.   
"You're still walking like a guy! You're already so graceful, this   
should be easy! Good, now swing your hips more."  
Ranko tried to walk as Miz was instructing her to, keeping   
a smile plastered to her face so not to show how much she loathed   
doing this. Any hint of sadness or anger and Miz would bring up   
that she had swore to do this on her honor. That was one thing that   
Ranko did not wanted to be constantly reminded of. Could   
agreeing to this fiasco be her all-time stupidest move? Maybe not,   
but it was up there. The smile, however, was getting progressively   
harder to keep the longer the training went on.  
Miz wasn't having such a fun time herself. To teach Ranko   
any proper behavior was an uphill battle. Not only didn't the girl   
know anything about being a woman, she was incredibly resistant   
to adopting a feminine ideal. Miz had to use Ranko's honor as a   
bludgeon to get the girl to do anything. The water priestess was   
starting to believe that she had taken on more that she could handle   
here. Worst of all was trying to explain some things to Ranko,   
who could be incredibly dense sometimes.  
Crash!  
"Damn, I can't believe you broke another of my dishes!   
Maybe I should have used a book to balance on your head instead."  
Unknown to either of them, Houri peeked through a   
window and snickered. It didn't look like she would have to   
interfere after all. At this rate, Miz would be eighty before this   
Ranko girl would be fit to be a water priestess, much less high   
priestess.  
  
"What's wrong dear?" Miz asked when Ranko had gotten   
particularly angry at her latest suggestion, dropping to a whisper.   
"Is it that time of the month?"  
"Time of the month for what?" Ranko asked, confused.   
She just didn't want to go to the onsen to bathe with all those girls   
there. Even if she couldn't change now, it would still be too   
embarrassing. Besides, she'd feel too much like Happosai trying to   
peep on them.  
"You know what I mean."  
"No, I don't."  
Miz decided to be blunt, which was the only way Ranko   
ever got things anyway. "Are you having your period?"  
"My what?"  
"Surely a girl as old as you has already had her first period,"   
the water priestess asked incredulously.  
Ranko was starting to get annoyed with her confusing line   
of questioning. "Lady, the only first period I know about is the one   
I had at school."  
"So you do know what I'm talking about!" Miz was always   
delighted when something had finally gotten through to her pupil,   
probably because it usually took a lot of effort.  
"Huh?"  
"You just said that you had your first period while at   
school. That must have been tough on you dear."  
Miz patted the shorter girl's shoulder in sympathy. "Don't   
worry about it. You can take your baths in my private furo until   
you're ready to go to the onsen with the others."  
Ranko was still confused about what Miz had been talking   
about, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now   
she just had to make sure he got to take her baths alone. The last   
thing she wanted to deal with was Miz in the furo with her.  
  
Miz was having such a hard time preparing Ranko for the   
first trial, that she decided to get started on the second right away,   
because at this rate she really would be an old maid before she   
could get married.  
"Now Ranko, to speed up your education I've decided to   
start training you for the second trail."  
"Great! What is it?" It just had to be better than all this   
girly stuff. All of these rules of behavior were so tedious and   
stupid! She felt like an idiot trying to act more like a girl.  
"Here," Miz said, handing the redhead a book which was   
the size of a somewhat abridged dictionary. "That's your copy of   
the Priestess Handbook. I want you to know it as soon as   
possible."  
"What?"  
"The second trial of a new priestess is knowledge of the   
rules one must follow. You read this tonight instead of training   
and I'll quiz you on the first chapter tomorrow."  
Ranko glanced back and forth between Miz and the book   
that she had just handed her, her expression filled with disbelief.   
*She wants me to do schoolwork? This water priestess thing is   
looking worse every day.*  
  
True to her word, Miz quizzed Ranko early the next day.   
Ranko managed to get two answers, out of twenty, right, and one   
was obviously a lucky guess. The pig-tailed girl thought she heard   
the sound of faint, mocking laughter, but dismissed it as her   
imagination.  
"Did you actually read the handbook I gave you?" Miz   
asked her student with some irritation. She had found herself in a   
near constant state of irritation lately, all due to her reluctant pupil  
"I did really, I just don't remember any of it," Ranko   
answered with a reassuring smile. In reality, she had only flipped   
through part of it, got extremely bored, put it off to do later, and   
never got back to it. It was a thick book, all written in small-print   
kanji and with absolutely no pictures. How the heck was she   
supposed to remember it all?  
Miz looked at Ranko right in the eye, as if she could tell all   
of the boy-turned-girl's deepest, darkest secrets that way. "Well, if   
you had read the introduction you would know that you only have   
to memorize the essentials, which are all in the first chapter of the   
book. The rest of it is elaboration on these and the many esoteric   
rules that are used so infrequently that no one expects you to know   
them by heart anyway. I also believe that the last chapter is the   
history of the priestesses of Mt. Muldoon, but I never got that far   
myself."  
"You mean I only got to read the first chapter?" Ranko   
asked, starting to get irritated herself. "Why didn't you tell me that   
before?!"  
"As I said, I didn't tell you because it says so in the   
introduction," Miz replied with a definite edge to her voice.  
"Oh, I must have missed that part."  
"It's the first line in the book!" Miz massaged her forehead   
to stop the headache she felt coming on.  
Ranko noticed that her new sensei was near the boiling   
point and decided that a change of subject was in order. If Miz   
rejected her as her pupil, then Ranko would be left without purpose   
or a place to live. Besides, this was a challenge, and Ranko had   
never backed down from one before, no matter what the actual   
challenge was.  
Then it could be that she was lonely, and having never   
known her real mother, now never would know her, had taken Miz   
as a sort of substitute. That could explain some of the reason why   
Ranko felt so guilty when she got her sensei mad. This thought   
never occurred to the pig-tailed girl, however.  
"So what's the third trial going to be anyway? When am I   
going to start training for that?"  
Miz suddenly looked uncomfortable. She sprang up out of   
her seat and began to pour herself a cup of tea, facing away from   
Ranko. "Third trial? Don't worry about that now, you still have to   
train for the first two."  
"But what is it?"  
Miz didn't reply right away. Instead, she finished pouring   
her cup of tea, and returned to sit by the table, setting the cup down   
before her. She even took a slow sip before she spoke.  
"Well, it's a test in mastering the power of a high water   
priestess, which is significantly greater than that of a water   
priestess. There's no real way that you can train for it, so you   
should just put it out of your mind for now and concentrate on the   
others. I'm sure you'll do fine anyway."  
  
"Dammit!" Jinnai swore in frustration. "Why won't any of   
this work?"  
"What is the problem, Mr. Jinnai?" Queen Diva asked,   
having just arrived from overseeing her growing army. It had been   
several days since they had discovered the lab and Jinnai had been   
busy there trying to figure out how to awaken the demon god   
which they had discovered. This one looked almost exactly like   
Ifurita, except her hair was black instead of silver and she was   
dressed differently as well. However, she lacked a key and he had   
found no other way to wind her up.  
"Oh Diva, it's you," Jinnai said as he turned to face her.   
She was surprised by the sight of him. His usual immaculate   
appearance was smudged with what looked like smoke and his hair   
was all in disarray. It looked like he hadn't slept recently and she'd   
been told that he was barely eating. She was somewhat concerned   
about the current state of her star general. It was a feeling that she   
wasn't used to and wasn't sure what to make of it.  
"I've tried everything in this lab to try and activate the   
demon god, but nothing works. It doesn't help that all the   
instructions are in a language I can't read. Can you understand   
this?"  
Jinnai gestured to the odd-looking runes that covered many   
surfaces.  
"I'm afraid not. I've tried reading their language before, but   
it is beyond my abilities. I only moved here after the city had   
already been destroyed."  
Jinnai nodded and thought for a few moments before   
saying, "Wait, you opened the door to this place. Maybe you can   
turn on the demon god the same way."  
Queen Diva shrugged her shoulders and then placed her   
hand on the demon god's forehead. As she had expected, nothing   
happened.  
"How the heck I'm I going to figure this out?" Jinnai   
shouted in frustration.  
"I have heard of a Dr. Schtalubaugh who is an expert on   
ancient devices. Perhaps he could figure out how to activate her.   
He should at least be able to read the ancient text."  
"Why didn't you say that sooner?"  
Queen Diva shrugged her shoulders. "It only just occurred   
to me."  
"All right, so we go and kidnap this doctor, forcing him to   
figure out how to activate this demon god. Where does the old guy   
live anyway?"  
"In the palace of Rostaria, unfortunately."  
"Hmm, not easy but not impossible either, at least for me.   
Makoto is liable to interfere, just like he did with Ifurita . . . Wait, I   
just had a brainstorm! Makoto has some strange power over   
ancient machines, that's how he was able to turn Ifurita against us.   
Wouldn't be ironic if we kidnap him instead and force him to use   
that very same power to activate our demon god?"  
"But Mr. Jinnai, what's to stop him from turning this demon   
god against us, just like what he did with Ifurita?"  
"It's simple, we just kill him before he has the chance."  
Diva favored him with a warm smile. "What a perfectly   
delicious plan, Mr. Jinnai."  
"Yes, soon we will rule over all of El-Hazard.   
Hahahahaha!"  
  
Afrua-Mann and Shayla-Shayla were more than a little   
surprised that when they finally returned from the palace, Miz   
presented them with the soon-to-be new high priestess of water.  
Miz met them at the landing platform when they had flown   
in, Ranko held out before her like showing off a new pet. "Fellow   
priestesses," she told them somewhat formally, though her voice   
was filled with glee. "This is the new water high priestess, Ranko.   
Say hello to your fellow priestesses, Ranko. You're going to be   
working with them quite soon."  
"Um, hi," Ranko told them with a little way, feeling very   
embarrassed. It wasn't the uniform, mostly, she had gotten   
somewhat used to it during the unrelenting training Miz had given   
her in becoming a lady. It was more the way Miz was holding her   
like a child meeting her aunts for the first time.  
"Isn't she darling?" Miz told the two bewildered priestesses,   
rubbing her cheek against Ranko's. "I've been hard at work this   
past week training her so I know that she'll be just perfect for the   
job. Now that you're both here, we can give her the trials."  
Ranko remembered that Miz had a different opinion just a   
few hours ago, but thought it best not to say anything. Her new   
sensei had a temper that rivaled Akane's.  
"Yeah, she's just great," Afrua-Mann replied slowly, with a   
definite lack of enthusiasm in her voice. Thankfully, Miz was too   
hyped-up to notice.  
"Look, we'd love to give her the trial right now," Shayla-  
Shayla told Miz as she dragged Afrua-Mann back in the temple.   
"But we've been traveling for a while and have just got to get   
something to eat. Why don't you give your student some last   
minute training and we'll talk over this trial business after lunch,   
okay?"  
"Oh, that is a wonderful idea!" Miz enthused. "Ranko and I   
can join you."  
"No!" Shayla-Shayla shouted back immediately. "You   
should use that time... to make sure your student has everything   
down pat again. The trials can be pretty tough, you know."  
"True. Come along, Ranko. Let's have a quick review   
while the other priestesses enjoy their lunch. By this time   
tomorrow, you'll be an official apprentice water priestess!"  
Once she was finally gone, Afrua-Mann and Shayla-Shayla   
breathed a sign of relief.  
  
The high priestesses of fire and air discussed the problem   
over lunch, which they ate with vigor in one of Shayla's personal   
rooms, which most priestesses knew to keep away from lest they   
test the fire priestess' temper.  
"What are we going to do now?" Shayla-Shayla asked after   
shoving a hunk of meat in her mouth and swallowing.  
Afrua-Mann showed a bit more restraint, though she was   
nearly starving herself. "I think you're overreacting, Shayla. I do   
admit that Miz finding a replacement so soon was a bit of surprise,   
but that doesn't really interfere with Rune Venus' plans, now does   
it? Besides, this Ranko might not even pass the three trials."  
Shayla-Shayla frowned. "I think Fatora is the one who   
came up with this, or maybe Nanami. Rune just isn't this sneaky.   
Besides, if this Ranko girl does pass the trials, what then? It's   
going to take at least another week for all the preparations that   
Rune has planned. I'm kind of surprised the lengths that she's   
going to. Almost like she was the one who was getting married."  
"Shhh!" Afrua-Mann hushed her fellow priestess. "If word   
of this gets back to Miz, then Rune will be very disappointed. Miz   
has been the high priestess of water for so long that she wanted to   
give her something back for her years of loyal service. She'd   
probably do the same thing for one of us."  
"I don't plan to stay high priestess for that long," Shayla-  
Shayla replied immediately. "That still doesn't explain how we can   
keep her delayed for another week if Ranko passes the three trials."  
Afrua-Mann took a slow sip of her wine. "Let's just give   
her the trails first, and worry about that if she passes them."  
  
The two high priestesses of air and fire weren't the only   
ones concerned over Ranko. Houri frowned from a hidden location   
as she watched Miz and her student practice. The redhead was   
nothing short of amazing. She had gone from a rough tomboy to a   
refined woman in only a week. There was the fact that Miz had   
pushed her constantly, training until Ranko dropped. And there   
were also a few rough edges still to the girl, but certainly not   
enough to make her lose the trials. Even still, Houri had never   
seen anyone able to learn so fast.  
She cursed the fact that her duties had taken her away from   
Mt. Muldoon so she couldn't interfere with the week's training.   
She had thought at the time that a week wouldn't make any   
difference with this girl. She was angry with herself for having   
underestimated her opponents.  
Houri could think of no direct way that she could interfere   
with the trials, not one that wouldn't give her away at least. There   
was still the possibility that this girl would fail in one of the trials   
on her own, especially the third, but Houri was not willing to rely   
on chance in this. She had to do something.  
  
Ranko sighed as she relaxed in the bath, alone for once   
thankfully. Miz had told her to relax while she and the other high   
priestesses made ready for the trials, whatever they were going to   
be. Ranko was still a little vague on what Miz wanted from her,   
but she had trained as hard as she could, even though most of the   
training was, ugh, girly stuff.  
"Help, me please! Someone help me!" a young female   
voice yelled out.  
Ranko was up and running, slipping back into her clothes   
while still on the move. The cries eventually led her to where one   
of the younger priestesses had somehow slipped from the mountain   
and was no holding onto a root for dear life. Ranko was about to   
go back and get some more help when she saw the root start to   
tear.  
"Everything is going to be all right," Ranko told the girl as   
she very slowly edged down to her. "Whatever you do, don't   
move."  
The girl nodded fearfully.  
After a few tense moments, Ranko finally reached the girl,   
wrapping one arm around her just as the root finally broke. She   
blinked when both the girl and the root suddenly vanished, the   
sudden weight imbalance sending her tumbling from the   
mountainside.  
Somewhere above her, a smile formed on invisible lips.  
  
"Argh!" Ranko screamed as she fell, closing her eyes so she   
wouldn't have to see the ground hurrying up to meet her. She   
stayed like that for a few minutes, feeling the wind rushing around   
her, when she realized that she should have hit bottom already.  
Cautiously, Ranko opened her eyes. She expected to see   
the ground right before her eyes as she plowed into it, but instead   
the ground was still lost in the mist below her and didn't seem to be   
getting any closer. She looked up to see that she wasn't very far   
from where she had fallen originally.  
Ranko sat cross-legged on air and scratched her head in   
thought. Then she smacked her palms together when she   
remembered the first time she had met Miz. She had tried to   
commit suicide, but suddenly had gained the power to fly for some   
reason. Having not used the power since, she had completely   
forgotten about it. Miz had said it was because she had come from   
another world, but Ranko felt that there was a bit more to it than   
that. Whatever the case, it was certainly useful thing for someone   
to have who lived on top of a mountain.  
Thinking on suddenly vanishing girls, Ranko awkwardly   
made her way back to the top of the mountain.  
  
"Ranko! Ranko!" Miz shouted as she looked around the   
temple for any sign of her student. She was starting to feel   
worried. In the bath there were signs of a hasty departure and none   
of the other priestesses had seen Ranko. She could have gotten a   
case of cold feet as Shayla-Shayla had suggested, but Miz didn't   
think that Ranko was that kind of girl. She seemed so determined   
to do this.  
Afrua-Mann wondered, as she flew around Mt. Muldoon,   
how she had been roped into searching for this lost student of   
Miz's. Girl probably had decided on getting in some last-minute   
practicing rather than taking it easy. It's what she would have   
done.  
Sighing, Afrua decided on making just one more pass of the   
lower reaches before giving up. She was surprised to see a familiar   
redhead, though shocked to find that instead of climbing the   
mountain, Ranko was floating beside it. She looked to be trying to   
swim up. Afrua might have laughed at the sight, if it wasn't so   
strange. Instead, she flew right up to the struggling girl.  
  
"Hello there. Having some trouble?"  
Ranko was startled to turn around to find Afrua-Mann's   
face only inches from hers, mainly do to the ground being many   
miles beneath their feet.  
"Yeah, a little," Ranko admitted, embarrassed. She had   
figured out how to fly a bit when this power had first revealed   
itself. Unfortunately, she had forgotten how.  
"Don't struggle with it," Afrua-Mann instructed. "It's all   
mental. Just think of where you want to go and you'll fly there."  
Ranko tried this and was surprised at how easy she was   
able to float around the high priestess of air. "This isn't too hard."  
Afrua-Mann nodded. "Just have to be careful of air   
currents and never lose your concentration."  
"Woah!" Ranko exclaimed as she hit an air pocket and   
started to fly out of control. She would have smacked into the side   
of the mountain if Afrua-Mann hadn't caught her.  
"I still think I need some practice," Ranko admitted.  
"I guess so," Afrua agreed as she helped Ranko to fly on her   
own once again. "How are you able to fly anyway? You're not   
carrying a lamp of air."  
"Miz says that I gained this power because I came here   
from another world."  
Afrua-Mann blinked in surprise. "You're from another   
world, like Makoto and Nanami? Miz didn't mention that. How   
did you get here?"  
Ranko shrugged. "Not sure. Might have something to do   
with this bracelet I found on the world I'm from," she explained,   
pointing to the bracelet she wore on her upper arm. "Can't seem to   
take the damn thing off."  
Afrua-Mann floated closer to study the bracelet intently.   
"I've seen this design before somewhere. I'm almost certain that it's   
an ancient device of El Hazard, though Dr. Staugouhbough would   
know for certain."  
"Yeah, Miz told me about him and the others. I want to   
meet them, but I promised Miz I'd undergo the trials first."  
"Miz must mean a lot to you if you're willing to go through   
all this for her," Afrua asked suddenly.  
After a moment, Ranko shrugged and said, "Yeah, I guess   
she does." Miz had treated her kindly ever since she first arrived.   
Maybe at first it was all due to an ulterior motive, but the high   
water priestess had gone out of her way to make Ranko feel   
comfortable and wanted. Most of all, she had given Ranko a   
purpose. She almost felt that Miz was like the mother she never   
knew, or rather never got to know.  
With a smile, Afrua-Mann threw a friendly arm around   
Ranko and whispered to her, "Well, then you can help us with   
something. You see, Miz..."  
  
Ranko was nearly crushed by the hug she received from   
Miz when she had finally returned. "Where have you been? I was   
so worried!"  
Ranko blushed a little at Miz's display of emotion, or that   
could have been due to her hug cutting off the redhead's air supply.   
Either way, she managed to disengage herself from the water   
priestess and explained, "Well, I was taking a bath and relaxing   
just like you wanted me to, when I heard someone cry for help. I   
rushed outside to find a girl who had fallen off the mountain and   
now was only holding on by a root. I managed to lower myself   
down to her, but when I put my arm around her, she vanished. And   
I fell."  
"But you have the power to fly," Miz pointed out.  
Ranko rubbed her head in embarrassment. "I sort of forgot   
about that, actually. Good thing that it seems to kick in   
automatically or I'd be in trouble."  
"You would have been dead, Ranko," Miz pointed out with   
a stern expression. "You need to learn to take such situations more   
seriously. Still, that doesn't explain what took you so long."  
"I'm afraid that's my fault, Miz," Afrua Mann answered   
quickly. "I saw Ranko struggling to fly and decided to give her a   
few lessons right on the spot. I'm sure Ranko didn't mean to make   
you worry."  
Miz was silent for a few moments. "I suppose it's all right   
this time. The experience might even make you more prepared for   
the trials, but don't you dare do something like this again without   
letting me know somehow. All right, Ranko?"  
"Yes, sensei," Ranko replied, head bowed. "I'm sorry."  
Miz offered her student a warm smile as she patted her on   
the shoulder. "Apology accepted. Now let's get to those trials!"  
"Wait!" Afrua Mann interrupted a bit nervously. "If the girl   
vanished, then she must have been an illusion. That must mean   
that there's a member of the Phantom Tribe here on Mt. Muldoon,   
one who tried to kill Ranko."  
"No, there can't be," Miz protested.  
"The facts speak for themselves," Shayla-Shayla added.   
"The trials will just have to be put off until the intruder can be   
found and caught."  
"But Ranko is ready now," Miz argued. "We can hold the   
trials quickly and then look for this Phantom Tribe person. If we   
close off the mountain in the meantime, it won't make any   
difference."  
"And what other sorts of mischief will this person cause in   
the meantime?" Shayla-Shayla pushed. "We don't even have the   
time to talk about it, we have to find this person now."  
"I agree with Shayla," Afrua Mann told the high water   
priestess. "Sorry Miz, but you're out-voted. I'll start making   
arrangements now."  
Afrua Mann flew off before Miz could argue with her   
further.  
"Don't worry, sensei," Ranko told her. "This will only take   
a day or so. I'll still pass those tests. I promise I will."  
Miz smiled suddenly. "Thank you, Ranko."  
  
Houri nearly bit her lip to stop herself from yelling out in   
frustration. She could not believe that she had been keeping her   
secret for over ten years, and now was going to be discovered over   
something as foolish as this. But then how was she to know that   
Miz's student could fly? The redhead had no connection to any of   
the priestesses of Wind. She should have fallen to her death. And   
it was already too late to silence her.  
Houri still wished to stop Miz's marriage by any means   
possible, but right now her safety was a bigger concern. She   
needed to leave Mt. Muldoon and fast. Perhaps she could ambush   
them on their way to Rostaria?  
  
"Houri!"  
The priestess in question spun around in surprise. She was   
practically out the door and knew she only had moments before the   
entire mountain would be sealed off, with even Wind priestesses   
watching the skies. And it had to be Miz, of all people, to catch   
her.  
"Are you leaving?" Miz asked with a bit of surprise.  
"Yes," Houri explained quickly. "My duties require me to   
be elsewhere, so I have to be going now."  
Miz glanced around and whispered so no one could   
overhear them. "There is a matter of utmost importance that I wish   
to speak to you about."  
"Can't it wait until I return? I shouldn't be gone for more   
than a week."  
"I'm afraid not. Houri, as a water priestess and one of my   
oldest friends, I need you help."  
Houri sighed and gave up her plan of escape. She knew   
that there was no chance Miz would let her leave now. "All right,   
want do you want of me?"  
Miz looked around again, seeming even more nervous.   
"Well, it seems that one of our fellow priestesses is in actuality a   
member of the Phantom Tribe."  
Houri made sure to appear suitably shocked. "You must be   
joking."  
Miz shook her head. "This villain has already tried to kill   
my student. Who knows what else damage she could do if she isn't   
caught immediately?"  
"True, but what do you wish me to do about it?"  
Houri had to control her reaction when Miz suddenly put   
her hand on her shoulder. "Houri, right now you are one of the few   
people here that I can trust. We've known each other since even   
before we became water priestesses, but most of the others here I   
don't know as well. This Phantom Tribe person could be any one   
of them. I need you to help me find the culprit."  
Houri shrugged. "All right, I'll see what I can do."  
"I knew I could count on you."  
  
They searched through mid-day and long into the night, and   
while some priestesses were suspected and questioned, by the time   
everyone was ready to drop from exhaustion, no suspects   
remained. Miz, Shayla-Shayla, and Afrua Mann had gathered   
together to discuss the fruits of their search just before heading off   
to bed. Most other priestesses were already asleep.  
"I say that she left as soon as she had finished pulling that   
trick on Ranko so she wouldn't get caught," Shayla-Shayla   
theorized. "It's what I would have done."  
Afrua Mann shook her head. "There was no way for her to   
know her plan had failed then. Leaving abruptly would have only   
blown her cover. Besides, I spoke to the guards at the gate. No   
one left between the time Ranko went to bathe and we ordered the   
gates closed."  
"Then she escaped some other route when it was obvious   
her plan had been discovered."  
"No, I say that she's still here," Afrua Mann said, and then   
turned to face the high water priestess. "What do you say, Miz?   
You've been quite all night."  
Miz blinked suddenly and replied, "Oh, I agree with Shayla.   
If this Phantom Tribe person was still here, why hasn't she tried to   
cause more damage? Considering the small amount of chaos this   
whole incident raised, she could have done something else and   
gotten away with it, but nothing happened."  
"Members of the Phantom Tribe are very determined. She   
wouldn't just leave here unless Ranko was dead, if that is her goal."  
  
The next morning was truly beautiful. The sun shown   
down from a sky of deep blue, filled with white, fluffy clouds, only   
to land directly on Ranko's face. She groaned and tried to bury her   
head deeper into her pillow, but gentle hands shook her shoulders.  
"Time to wake up, Ranko," Miz spoke softly to her. "I   
want us to have an early breakfast with the other high priestesses. I   
think I can convince them to hold the trials right away. If   
everything goes well, we can leave for Rostaria this afternoon.   
Then we can meet those people from another world, just like you   
wanted to."  
Ranko grumbled something unintelligible and pulled the   
blanket over her head.  
Miz frowned. She knew her student had some difficulty   
getting up in the morning, but this was beginning to get ridiculous.   
Besides, she was confident that Ranko could pass the trials now,   
but was less sure about it the more time passed. Better to get them   
over and done with, so she could move on to training her as an   
apprentice.  
So Miz pulled the blankets out of her student's grasp and   
shouted, "Wake up, Ranko!!"  
Ranko sprang out of bed and clung to the ceiling, glancing   
around as if she expected an attack to come from any direction.   
Her eyes finally settled on Miz who was looking up at her, arms   
crossed, tapping her foot in impatience.  
Ranko let go and was only mildly surprised when she   
floated down slowly back to the bed. She rubbed her eyes a bit and   
said, "Um, yeah, Miz?"  
Miz smiled then, realizing that there were just some habits   
she'd never be able to break her student out of. "Take your bath   
quickly and join myself and the other high priestesses in our dining   
room. Hopefully, we can get the trials done today."  
Ranko nodded and got ready for her bath, not having the   
energy to argue with her sensei, if she had the inclination.  
  
Over breakfast, Shayla-Shayla had become indifferent to   
the possible presence of a member of the Phantom Tribe among   
them, no longer bothering to argue if this person was still on Mt.   
Muldoon or not. Afrua Mann, however, was still obstinate that   
their near-murderer was not only still among them, but had to be   
caught before she could do more damage. And also nothing,   
including the trials, could be done until she was caught.  
Miz had thought she would be this way, however, and had   
already come up with a counter argument. "You said before that   
you believed my student Ranko to be the target of this... assassin?"   
she asked casually as she daintily poked at her breakfast.  
Afrua Mann nodded as she took a bite of her own meal. "I   
think that much is obvious. If this person wanted to cause chaos or   
even death on a larger scale, she still could have done it. Instead,   
she chose to target Ranko specifically."  
"That's horrible!" Miz nearly shouted. "But why would   
they target her of all people? I would think that one of the three of   
us would be much more likely."  
"It's hard to tell. I could be the fact that she's being trained   
as the next high water priestess, or it could be that she's from   
another world. It's hard to guess the motives of the Phantom   
Tribe."  
"Who cares why?" Shayla-Shayla added in as she wolfed   
down her own food.  
"Still, that does mean that my student is still in a   
considerable degree of danger," Miz pointed out. "She won't be so   
easily fooled the next time, but it would certainly be better if she   
had some way of defending herself."  
"What are you getting at, Miz?" Afrua Mann asked with   
growing suspicion.  
"Don't you see? We need to hold the trials right now so   
Ranko can have the powers of a water priestess to defend herself   
with."  
Afrua Mann and Miz argued about it for a while more, but   
by the time that Ranko had joined them, the matter had already   
been settled. The trials would be held immediately.  
  
Houri couldn't help snickering a bit at the fact that Miz had   
put her in charge of the investigation to uncover the Phantom Tribe   
agent, while the high priestesses administered the three trials to   
Ranko. She should have been angry at being too busy to interfere   
with those tests which would put her rival one step closer to her   
goal. But then again, there were still several steps to go. Miz   
could still stumble along the way, with a little help.  
Besides, there was really nothing Houri could do at this   
point. Most of her illusions were rendered ineffective by the   
shrine's inherent magic, as she had found much to her dismay   
during her own trials years ago. She was thankful that the illusion   
of her appearance hadn't been effected. Surrounded by three high   
priestesses was the last place he wanted to be found out.  
Having planned out a few escape routes out of Mt.   
Muldoon in case she ever had need of them, it would child's play   
for here to leave evidence that this enemy agent had already   
escaped. In fact, following this phantom member of the Phantom   
Tribe would give her just the excuse she needed to be away from   
her duties, so she could stop Miz from tying the knot.  
  
Ranko looked around in something akin to wonder at the   
large cave that the high priestesses had taken her to. The ceiling   
had to be at least three stories up, where a large hole the size of the   
Tendo home letting sunshine in. The entire Tendo compound   
could have fit in that cave with room to spare, but it would have   
been a little damp since most of the cave was taken up by the large   
pool of water, though it was more like a small lake, with a tiny   
island at it's center.  
"This is the holy water shrine of ascension," Miz instructed.   
"Only high priestesses and those seeking to become high   
priestesses are allowed to enter."  
Ranko bent down to stare at the crystal clear water,   
glittering like diamonds where the sunlight struck it's surface. The   
water looked to be shallow, though she could see fish swimming   
lazily about, among the plants that swayed in the slow undertone of   
the pool. As she stood and looked around again, she noted the   
well-fed moss that clung to the walls of the cave. What at first   
glance looked dead was actually teeming with life.  
"Ranko," Miz said so seriously that it immediately grabbed   
the redhead's attention. "It is time for your trials to begin."  
Miz kissed the ring that she wore, and blinked when   
nothing happened. She smiled nervously when she realized the   
ring she had kissed was actually her engagement ring, "Sorry,   
wrong ring. Though it is beautiful enough to kiss, isn't it?"  
The other high priestesses groaned, sick of hearing about   
the stupid engagement ring already. "If she goes on about how it   
shines in the sunlight again, I'll strangle her," Shayla-Shayla   
muttered.  
Miz was too eager to get the trials done with to spend time   
in contemplation of her upcoming nuptials at the moment. So she   
kissed her lamp of water this time and there was a sudden   
explosion of water that swirled around her, vanishing as quickly as   
it had appeared. Miz calmly picked up the surprised Ranko by the   
waist and ran across the water to the small island in the center, not   
even getting her feet wet. Afrua Mann activated her lamp of air   
and followed, carrying Shayla-Shayla with her.  
Ranko blinked and looked around once Miz had set her feet   
down on the small island. She had no idea her sensei was strong   
enough to carry her like that. Maybe it was another effect of the   
magic?  
The island was tiny, with barely enough room for the three   
of them to move around. This was mainly due to the large fountain   
that dominated the small area. It was carved all of white marble,   
sculpted to resemble flowing water, so that the actual water that   
sprang forth from it seemed like a natural extension of itself.  
"I, Miz, 179th High Water Priestess of Mt. Muldoon do   
hereby swear to have trained Ranko to be my successor to the best   
of my ability. Let her be tested to prove her worth," Miz intoned   
formally.  
"I, Afrua Mann, 180th High Wind Priestess, shall   
administer the first trial."  
Ranko mentally readied herself for anything. Miz had   
trained her hard, but she had never specifically told her what the   
trials would be.  
The last thing he expected was for Afrua Mann to   
purposefully fall into the lake. "I can't swim. Save me," she said   
just before vanishing beneath the surface.  
Once she had recovered from her shock, Ranko dove in   
after her.  
Ranko was startled by the contrast once her head was under   
the water, how gloomy and dark it had suddenly become, day   
turning to night in an instant. The fish could only be made out as   
vague blurs and the bottom below was lost in the darkness. She   
was also surprised at how deep it was. It reminded her of her swim   
from coming back from China.  
Ranko looked around frantically for the high priestess as   
she forced her way through the icy water, too focused to even   
notice the cold anymore. There, a flash of something, metal   
catching the light. Ranko dove towards it's source.  
She found Afrua Mann lying serenely at the bottom of this   
pool, plants thickly surrounding her. Her eyes were closed and her   
face slack as if sleeping. Ranko began to wonder just what the   
heck was going on, then quickly banished those thoughts. There   
wasn't time. She was already running out of air.  
Ranko tried to pull Afrua Mann up, but met unexpected   
resistance. She frantically looked around, only to find that the high   
priestesses legs were tangled up in some thick, ropy-looking plant.   
Ranko bent down and tried to rip them away, but it was   
impossible. The plant was just too tough and slippery underwater,   
it slid right out of her grasp.  
While Ranko struggled for a solution to this, she realized   
with horror that somehow her own legs had been tangled by the   
same kind of plant. What was worse, her own air supply was now   
almost gone, and knew that Afrua Mann had to be even worse off   
than she was.  
There was no time to even think of what to do, Ranko fell   
back on instinct. Her fingers were nimble enough to untangle the   
plant around Afrua Man strand by strand. And with the last of her   
strength, she pushed the high priestess towards the surface. Last of   
her air gone, she began to black out.  
Ranko opened her eyes in surprise to find herself lying on   
damp sand. *Am I back on the island?* she thought as she blinked   
and looked around. She was still underwater, but somehow the   
water was being kept at bay a few feet all around her. The reason   
was sitting on a rock next to her as she waited for the redhead to   
regain consciousness.  
Afrua Mann smiled and offered Ranko her hand, "Here, let   
me take you back to the surface."  
Ranko nodded a bit, still uncertain what was going on, but   
still took the offered hand.  
Afrua Mann stood and suddenly the air bubble they were in   
began floating up to the surface, carrying them along with it. It   
emerged from the pool and floated over the island, where it   
disappeared with a sudden pop. Ranko knelt down and took a deep   
breath, savoring the moment of serenity after what she had been   
though.  
"Ranko has passed the first trial," Afrua Mann declared.  
Miz, however, was less than pleased. "What was the   
meaning of that, Afrua?!" she shouted.  
Afrua's cool expression didn't waver in the least. "The   
actual substance of the first two trials are always left up to the high   
priestesses. You know that, Miz."  
"Yes, but I didn't expect you to try something so... so   
dangerous. Ranko could have been killed!"  
"I had complete control over the situation the entire time.   
Neither of us was really in any danger, but I had to make her think   
we were for the trial to be successful. I was supposed to test if   
Ranko acted like a true high priestess. I think that saving   
someone's life at the expense of her own proves that."  
Miz fumed, but she couldn't come up with a counter   
argument.  
Ranko stood, feeling all right now, except for being soaked   
to the bone at the moment. "I'm okay, sensei. I want to go on to   
the next trial."  
Miz nodded, but the look she gave Shayla-Shayla made it   
clear that she wouldn't tolerate another trial like the first. Shayla   
felt a bit intimidated by that glare, the high water priestess could be   
downright dangerous when she wanted to be.  
"Here, let me dry you off first," Shayla-Shayla offered as   
she activated her own lamp. "Don't move."  
Ranko watched with her eyes wide as flames suddenly   
swirled around her, yet never close enough to touch. The heat   
from them, however, was intense enough to dry her clothes and get   
her to break out in a sweat at the same time.  
"Thanks," Ranko said once it was over, though it was not   
any experience she wanted to go through again if she could help it.  
Shayla-Shayla grinned, and then spoke formally, "I,   
Shayla-Shayla, 180th High Fire Priestess, shall administer the   
second trial. I will ask you three questions. You must get at least   
two of them right in order to pass."  
Ranko nodded, and tried to remember all of the rules in the   
priestess handbook at once, only to make her head hurt. She   
decided to take whatever questions she was given and then think   
about them then.  
"All right. First question: If you come across innocent   
travelers being attacked by the Bugrom, what do you do?"  
Ranko blinked at the question. She mentally browsed   
through all the rules and procedures she could remember, but came   
up blank, so she went with the most logical. "Uh, rescue the   
travelers and defeat the Bugrom?"  
"Correct!" Shayla-Shayla said immediately. "Next   
question: You spot a legion of Bugrom racing towards a nearby   
city. What do you do?"  
Ranko was about to answer 'stop them,' and then stopped   
herself. She had no real idea of how powerful she would be as a   
priestess, Miz had said something about that depending on how   
aligned she was to the magic, so had no idea if she could take on   
such a force alone. Not to mention she didn't have an idea how   
tough the average Bugrom was to begin with. Maybe she should   
try to get help, but then again the invasion could reach the city   
before she could get help. Hmm...  
"Attempt to stop them while trying to signal for   
reinforcements," she said tentatively.  
"Close enough," Shayla-Shayla replied with a shrug of her   
shoulders. "You shouldn't waste time on signaling for help as it's   
unlikely anyone would see it. Instead, concentrate that energy on   
reducing the Bugrom force as much as you can. A reduced force   
will either retreat or be easy for the city's defenders to handle.  
"I guess I won't need to think up a third question then.   
Ranko has passed the second trial."  
"Shayla, why did you ask her such easy questions?" Afrua   
Mann demanded.  
Shayla-Shayla grinned. "Well, since your trial was so   
difficult, I though I'd compensate by making mine easier. Besides,   
us redheads have got to stick together. Right, Ranko?"  
"Right!" Ranko replied immediately, not wanting to upset   
the high priestess and risk blowing the trials. Besides, being stuck   
on a strange world like this, Ranko needed all the friends she could   
get.  
"As your mentor," Miz spoke to Ranko in formal tones. "It   
is my duty to administer the third and final trial." Miz took a small   
wooden box out of her pocket and handed it to Ranko.  
The redhead looked down at what she now held with some   
surprise. "So is there something in this box that's going to attack   
me when I open it or something?"  
The three high priestesses chuckled at that. "Just open the   
box, Ranko," Miz told her. "It's perfectly safe, for now."  
Even still, Ranko slowly opened the box, ready for the first   
sign of danger, only to find that it contained a ring which looked   
much like Miz's lamp of Water.  
"This is the lamp of a water high priestess in training," Miz   
explained. "It is the same ring I wore while I was training under   
the previous high priestess. Please put it on, Ranko."  
Ranko carefully took the ring from its resting place and   
slipped it on her finger. The instant she let go, she felt a sudden   
jolt, like a shock from static electricity. She held her hand up to   
study the ring, noting that it looked perfectly ordinary. Not   
something she's suspect of holding so much power.  
"Activate the ring now. I've already shown you how."  
With a nod to her sensei, Ranko held the ring to her lips,   
and fearing another shock, quickly kissed it. Her eyes went wide   
as water suddenly surged around her, twirling through the air like   
giant ribbons. But the bigger surprise was the sudden surge of   
power she felt flowing from the ring and into her body. And with   
that power somehow came the knowledge of how to use it.  
Ranko looked up at Miz, her eyes filled with wonder. The   
high priestess smiled, remembering when she had experienced the   
power for the first time.  
"So is this the final trial?" Ranko asked. "Am I an   
apprentice now?"  
Miz's smile vanished. "No, the final trial has only begun."   
Miz gestured to the fountain, her lamp sparkling with an inner   
light, and then suddenly the fountain exploded upward, the gushing   
water beginning to take on a monstrous, vaguely human form.  
"This is the water golem that guards this shrine," Miz   
explained. "I have used my power to wake it up. Now you must   
use yours to defeat it before it defeats you. You can use any   
methods you wish, but only the power of the lamp of water can   
harm it. If you leave this cave for whatever reason without   
defeating the golem first, you are considered to have forfeited. Do   
you understand, Ranko?"  
Ranko nodded slowly, still looking up at the golem which   
towered above her. Her final battle with Herb had been at the limit   
of her abilities, and she now faced and an opponent that was clearly   
in another class altogether. But she had come back too far to back   
down now.  
Miz nodded as well, and then turned her gaze up to the   
creature. Gesturing to Ranko, she instructed, "Golem, destroy her."  
  
Ranko didn't waste time waiting for it to make the first   
move. She commanded the new power she possessed and struck   
the golem with a stream of water drawn from the lake. Almost too   
quick for her eyes to follow, the golem dodged the blast. And so   
Ranko was unprepared when something hard struck her in the side,   
knocking her into the lake.  
*So much for an easy victory,* Ranko thought as she swam   
to the surface. When she looked around, she was surprised to find   
she was now alone in the cave. There was no sign of the water   
golem or the high priestesses.  
"Wha--" was all she was able to say before something   
wrapped around her legs and pulled her back down into the lake.  
She looked down to see nothing at first, but then the   
movement of the water she could make out the vague shape of the   
golem, it's arms having changed to that of many tentacles which   
currently had an iron grip on her legs. For this creature, the water   
was almost perfect camouflage.  
Ranko struggled futilely to escape. The water was ice cold,   
but her blood was boiling so she could hardly feel it. Then she   
blinked. Miz had said only the water power could hurt this thing,   
but the high priestess didn't know half of the things her student was   
capable of.  
"Hiyu Shoten Ha!!" Ranko shouted, her mouth full of   
water. A second later, the lake exploded, launching her almost out   
of the cave entirely. She floated above, watching as the lake   
settled down once again, expecting an attack any second. She   
knew that while the dragon's blast had been enough to shake the   
golem's grip, she doubted that it had also seriously wounded it.  
  
"What was that?" Shayla-Shayla asked Miz. They were   
currently sitting on the top of the cave, looking down at the battle   
below them though the large hole that let the sunlight in.  
"Don't look at me, Shayla," Miz replied. "I certainly didn't   
teach her it. It looked more like one of Afrua's air attacks."  
"True, and considering that he could do that along with the   
ability to fly, perhaps she is better suited to be a wind priestess,"   
Afrua Mann said.  
"No, she has a burning spirit. She should be a fire   
priestess."  
Miz looked at her fellow high priestesses in horror. "Don't   
even joke about such things."  
  
After a minute passed and the golem didn't make an   
appearance, Ranko began to wonder what was going on. She was   
almost positive now that she hadn't done any serious damage, so   
why wasn't it coming after her? Glancing around to see how high   
up she was, Ranko thought she had the answer. The water golem   
probably had to stay connected to the lake in some way and as such   
simply couldn't reach far enough into the air to get her now. It was   
probably lying in wait in the lake, waiting for her to come closer so   
she could strike.  
"Still, I have to beat it so I better--" Suddenly, a surge of   
water sprang from one of the cave walls she had floated close to   
and struck her like a knee to the back. Ranko went tumbling again,   
but was able to resume floating only a foot away from falling into   
the lake again. Before she could even think, she had to dodge out   
of the way of watery hands that reached up for her.  
Ranko gained altitude and frantically looked around for the   
direction of the next attack. Her back still hurt from where the   
golem had hit her, and she was feeling a bit panicked having never   
faced an opponent like this one before. She wanted to strike back   
with her newly acquired water powers, but had to be able to see the   
golem before she could hit it. She had a feeling that striking   
blindly at the lake would do no good.  
This time Ranko saw it, a silvery trail of water that flowed   
up the walls of the cavern, hiding itself among the well-fed moss.   
This came a bit to late since the next second the golem tried to   
strike again.  
"Katsu Tenchin Amaguriken!" Seeing the column of water   
rushing towards her, Ranko fell back on her training. Her fists   
were a blur as she struck back at the golem, neutralizing its attack,   
though the force was enough to push her half-way across the cave.  
Another short period of silence followed, when nothing   
could be heard to Ranko but the gently lapping waves as the lake   
settled once more, and her own labored breathing.  
  
"Is the water golem always this tough?" Shayla-Shayla   
asked. "My own fight with the fire golem was easier than this."  
"Shayla, don't you know anything?" Afrua Mann chided   
her. "The golems adapt themselves to the skill of their opponents.   
The water golem isn't giving any more than Ranko herself could   
dish out. Though considered how hard the golem is hitting, she   
must be some fighter."  
Miz was too surprised by what she was seeing to comment.  
  
Ranko had been mostly on the defensive so far, which she   
didn't like at all. Her pop had always explained that this was a   
position of weakness. Besides, it wasn't her style at all. What she   
needed was a plan of attack would put the golem on the defensive.   
But what? How could she fight what she could hardly see?  
Seeing another water trail climbing up to her, Ranko   
followed it with her eyes to it's source. Reasoning that the main   
body of the golem should be in that part of the lake, she kicked off   
from the walls of the cave, and propelled herself towards that spot,   
her form like an olympic diver.  
After she cut through the surface of the lake, it only took a   
second for her eyes to adjust enough to make out the golem, but   
even while doing that she had been preparing her attack, not letting   
any moment be wasted. Calling upon all the power she could from   
the lamp of water, she struck the creature with a blast that ended up   
knocking most of it out of the lake entirely.  
Ranko sprang out of the lake herself with a grin. She was   
positive that that attack at least had hurt it. It was now by the side   
of the lake, it's vaguely human form looking like someone was   
dipping their feet in, though it was easily twice the size of anyone   
Ranko had ever met. The featureless head turned to face her,   
giving Ranko the feeling that she was being studied intently though   
the golem had no eyes.  
Ranko called upon the water power again, this time in the   
form of a whip, which she sent out towards the golem, planning to   
use a move she had picked up from Kodachi and smack the   
creature into one of the cave walls.  
Too slow, however, as the golem managed to dodge out of   
the way, though Ranko noticed, not with the super human speed it   
had dodged her first attack. It was back on the lake now, but it   
stood on it instead of sinking back into it's surface. Ranko fired   
another water blast at it, but it simply bent its body in such a way   
no human could hope to emulate. Ranko chided herself for   
forgetting it's shape-changing abilities.  
"Moko Takabisha!" She attacked again, aiming this time at   
the lake right below the golem's feet. When the creature dodged to   
the right, Ranko was ready for it. A water whip snaked out of her   
ring and wrapped around the golem, flinging it hard into the cavern   
wall. It struck with a wet, meaty sound, and then fell with a thud to   
the ground when the whip vanished.  
Ranko stared at the golem cautiously, expecting it to launch   
a counter attack. It looked beaten, lying there on the shore   
unmoving, but she knew already that this was a tricky creature.   
She struck it with another water blast just to be on the safe side.  
When the water from the blast subsided, however, the   
golem had vanished. Ranko's surprise dropped her defenses just   
enough to be unable to avoid the sudden waterspout that rose up   
and pulled her back down into the lake.  
The water golem wasn't just tugging at her legs this time. It   
was all around her in the lake now, squeezing in a grip Ranko   
struggled to break out of. Hands, legs, and head all immobile, she   
couldn't even manage one of her martial arts attacks, and she   
couldn't achieve the mental focus it took to use one of her new   
water attacks at the moment.  
The golem continued to drag her down into the deepest and   
darkest part of the lake.  
  
"Has the golem gone crazy? It should have surrendered by   
now," Miz said, her voice nearly panicked. "I'm going down there   
and putting a stop to this right now."  
Afrua Mann's grip on her arm stopped her. "If any of us   
interfere with the trial for any reason, Ranko will fail. Those are   
the holy laws which even we cannot break."  
"I know, but Ranko..."  
"Have faith in your student, Miz."  
"But..."  
"Ranko can do this," Shayla-Shayla added. "Us redheads   
are tougher than most. We never give in easily."  
Miz sat back down, though she still looked uncertain.  
  
Ranko stopped struggling, knowing it was useless. Instead   
so put all her resources into trying to use the water magic again.   
Miz had told her that it was only this magic that could hurt this   
thing, and the redhead had seen that was true first-hand. It had   
shrugged off hits that would have taken down some of her toughest   
opponents.  
Only the magic, but how to use it? The magic was raw   
power, waiting to be shaped by Ranko's will. The form it took was   
all up to her. She had already shaped it into blasts and whips, both   
of which were useless to her at the moment. She couldn't think of   
how to direct a blast as she was now, and a whip would end up   
squeezing her as well.  
She was nearly at the bottom of the lake now, just like she   
had been when 'saving' Afrua Mann. She remembering waking up   
in a bubble of air, the water being kept at bay by the high wind   
priestess's magic. Maybe there was some way to do that with water   
magic...  
Ranko drew on as much power as she could and reached   
out past the golem to the water that was all around them. She tried   
forcing the water back, but it was no good. She didn't have enough   
power. Then she thought of her dragon blast, the spiral steps   
which she no longer needed to perform, though the purpose of   
those steps was still clear to her.  
The water around the golem began to churn counter-  
clockwise, faster and faster, until suddenly a whirlpool had opened   
up. Ranko gasped in the sudden influx of air, not noticing at first   
when the golem had released her. It made no move to attack   
though, instead staring at the wall of swirling water that   
surrounded them on all sides. Ranko couldn't help staring herself.  
She snapped out of it and tried to shoot off a final blast at   
the golem, sure that it was nearly defeated now. She blinked in   
surprise when nothing happened, and then realized that all her   
power was currently tied up in maintaining the whirlpool. And if   
she drew away some power from it, those walls of water would   
come crashing down on her.  
Ranko quickly took in the air again, pushing herself to fly   
as fast as she could out of the lake's reach. Once she had cleared   
the water, she let go of the whirlpool. Just before it could collapse,   
she drew all the power she could and fired it in on concentrated   
blast at the golem just before it was lost from sight. She was   
unable to see if the blast hit at the waves crashed in with the sound   
of thunder.  
Ranko landed on the small island, gasping in near-  
exhaustion. That had just been the hardest fight she had ever   
experienced. Nothing, not even Herb, compared to it. She just   
hoped that she had finally won, because she didn't have the   
strength to move a single droplet of water at the moment.  
When a giant spout of water suddenly sprung into the air   
right next to her, Ranko tried to stand, but the best she could   
manage was to sit up. Not matter what her condition, she still   
wasn't willing to give up. So it was with great relief that she saw   
the three priestesses standing on the column of water as it lowered   
itself to the lake again.  
Miz was immediately at Ranko's side, helping her up and   
checking for injuries, all the while muttering apologies. Ranko   
smiled for her and said, "That was no big deal. I've faced   
opponents much tougher than that water golem." It was a lie,   
partly out of bravado, and partly to reassure her sensei.  
"The golem isn't usually that rough," Miz explained. "But   
since you're not seriously injured, I suppose that it was all right in   
the end. Because, Ranko, you have passed the final test. You are   
now apprentice high water priestess."  
"Good," Ranko replied with a smile, just before slipping   
into unconsciousness.  
  
Ranko yawned and squinted her eyes from the bright   
sunlight that streamed through her window. She sat up, only to   
notice then that Miz sat in the room with her, obviously waiting by   
her beside for her to wake up.  
"Geez, that fight must have take more out of me than I   
realized," Ranko commented as she got used to the bright light.   
"How many hours was I out for?"  
"Hours?" Miz repeated with a small smile and a giggle.   
"You've been sleeping for nearly an entire day now."  
"No wonder I'm so hungry," Ranko told her as her stomach   
rumbled.  
"Well, I'll make a deal with you. If you hurry with your   
bath and pack up all your things, I'll make as much food as you can   
eat."  
"That's a lot of food," Ranko pointed out.  
"I know," Miz replied with a grin as she moved to leave the   
room. "I've seen you eat before."  
Ranko hurried with her bath, only needing a few minutes   
with the speed she could managed. She felt filled with a new   
energy, not having missed the ring that still adorned her finger.   
She was apprentice high water priestess now, with all the power   
and responsibility that that entailed. Besides, packing could mean   
only one thing. They were going to Rostaria, where Ranko could   
finally meet the travelers from another world and perhaps get some   
answers on how she had ended up there in the first place.  
Packing was nearly as quick as the bath. Most of the things   
she had had been given to her by Miz, and there wasn't a lot of   
those. A few changes of clothes, Ranko was currently wearing the   
red shirt and black pants she had originally appeared there with,   
bathing and grooming supplies, and some Rostarian money in case   
of emergencies.  
Despite the short time she had to cook, Miz was good to her   
word and provided plate upon plate of food, which Ranko gobbled   
down without a pause even to breathe. Miz didn't mind at all,   
practicing her cooking was something she wanted to do anyway for   
her impending marriage.  
"I've already reserved one of our flyers to take us to   
Rostaria," Miz told her apprentice as she began to slow down.   
"We should reach the palace in an hour or so."  
"Um, there's no rush," Ranko said quickly, remembering   
what Afrua Mann had told her during her flying lesson. "I thought   
we were going to see these people from another world first."  
"Ah, conveniently they all live either in or around the   
palace."  
Ranko frantically tried to think of any delaying tactic.   
From what Afrua Mann had told her, it would still be several days   
before everything would be ready at the palace, which meant Miz   
had to be kept away from it until then at all costs.  
"I thought you were going to train me in the use of water   
magic first," Ranko pointed out.  
"No, no," Miz corrected. "We made a deal that once you   
had passed the trials, I would take you to meet the people from the   
other world. Now that you have passed, it's time for me to keep   
my side of the bargain. Your training can wait until after."  
Miz already had everything planned in her head. Now that   
she had an apprentice, there would be no more objections to her   
marriage. She would go to the palace and introduce Ranko to   
everyone while making arrangements for her wedding. Then she   
would marry, train Ranko and have her made high water priestess,   
and then finally Miz and her new husband would depart on their   
honeymoon. It would be simple as that.  
It was a great relief to Ranko when Afrua Mann and   
Shayla-Shayla came striding into the room.  
"I've heard about your preparations," the high wind   
priestess told Miz. "And I'm afraid that I have some bad news."  
Miz blinked, staring up at them. "What?"  
"Orders have just come from the palace. Rune is worried   
about rumors of a build up of Bugrom forces and wants you and I   
to investigate."  
"But why can't you just take Shayla instead?"  
"Shayla has been ordered to report to the palace for another   
assignment. Besides, we both know how good she is at stealth   
missions."  
"Hey!" Shayla-Shayla shouted at Afrua Mann. "What do   
you mean by that?!"  
Afrua's expression didn't even flicker. "You just proved my   
point."  
Miz wrung her hands. She couldn't just ignore a direct   
order from the princess, but still. "But I promised that I would take   
Ranko to meet our friends from the other world, and Dr.   
Schtalubaugh."  
"Well, I can handle that," Shayla-Shayla told her. "I've got   
to go to the palace anyway. Besides, since we'll be working   
together soon, I should spend some time getting to know the future   
high water priestess anyway."  
Seeing Miz still struggling, Afrua Mann laid a hand on her   
shoulder and said, "It'll only be for a few days, and we have to go   
directly to the palace to make our report afterward. We'll be back   
before you know it."  
"I suppose you're right," Miz said as she stood and then   
turned to face the fire priestess. "Shayla, take good care of my   
apprentice while I'm gone. Don't draw her into any of your fights,   
either. She's not a brawler like you are."  
Shayla-Shayla was tempted to get Miz back for that remark,   
but instead smiled and nodded. Things were going to well to risk   
them now. Besides, after seeing her fight with the water golem,   
Shayla-Shayla was beginning to think Ranko was more of a fighter   
than she was.  
"And Ranko. Take care of yourself too, okay?"  
Ranko smiled. "I will, sensei."  
  
When Miz and Afrua Mann had finally left, Ranko breathed   
a sigh of relief, echoed by the high fire priestess who stood next to   
her.  
"How did you come up with all that on short notice?" she   
asked.  
Shayla-Shayla grinned. "We didn't. As soon as you had   
passed your trials, we sent word to Rune. She's the one who came   
up with this, though I'm not sure if it's just a scheme. I've heard the   
same rumors about the Bugrom too."  
"Miz won't be any danger, will she?"  
"You've experienced first-hand how powerful water magic   
is, and Miz has been using it for a long time know. She can draw   
on a lot more power than you could. She'll be fine."  
"Okay," Ranko said, feeling relieved. "So when do we   
leave?"  
"Now, the flyer Miz reserved is waiting for us."  
  
At the same moment, Houri was tampering with the flyer in   
question, her powers of illusion making her invisible to those that   
walked around the landing pad. The small flyer was mostly   
automatic so that someone like Miz who had limited experience   
with them could fly it herself. But this also meant that they were   
easier to tamper with.  
Houri rigged the flyer to dump its passengers in the middle   
of nowhere. That would give the priestess all the time she needed   
to reach Rostaria first and find more permanent means of stopping   
Miz from getting married.  
  
"There, everything is all set," Shayla-Shayla told Ranko as   
she turned away from the controls. "Just sit back and relax. We'll   
be at the palace in an hour."  
"What? That's it?" Ranko asked in surprise. She had only   
seen the high fire priestess push a few buttons. "Don't you have to   
stay at the controls to pilot this thing?"  
"Nope, it's all automatic. In fact, we've already left Mt.   
Muldoon."  
Ranko looked over the edge and blinked in surprise to see   
her home for the past two weeks was no little more than a spec in   
the distance. "I can't believe this thing moves this fast. It barely   
feels like we're moving."  
Shayla-Shayla sat down and made herself comfortable,   
leaning back with her hands behind her head. "Forget about the   
flyer. Tell me something about yourself."  
"Huh? Wha?" Ranko stuttered out, caught off-guard by the   
question.  
"Well, I imagine Miz will be pushing you through your   
training so she can retire, so you'll be working pretty closely with   
Afrua and me soon. I like to know something about the people I   
work with. Like how about where all those moves came from that   
you fought the golem with. I haven't seen anything like that before.   
Don't think it was magic."  
Ranko relaxed immediately. For some strange reason she   
had thought that this woman had found out about her curse   
somehow. "No, it's not magic," she began to explain. "The world   
I'm from has a form of combat called martial arts. I guess it's like...   
well, I'm not good at describing things. I've been trained in the   
form Anything Goes Martial Arts since I was old enough to walk.   
My pop even took me on a long training journey all over the place.   
I've mainly been taught to use my hands and feet, well really my   
whole body as a weapon. I've been trained to use real weapons too,   
but not as much.  
"Anyway, for reasons that are too complicated to explain,   
this old hag named Cologne taught me some techniques. Those   
were the first two special moves you saw me use on the golem.   
The third one I sort of made up myself, but it was based on a move   
a friend of mine learned."  
"So are you saying that anyone can learn these techniques   
of yours?"  
"Well I guess, but you have to be pretty good at martial arts   
to even attempt them, and they aren't easy to learn either. Some of   
the things I had to go through to get them... well, I'm glad I don't   
have to learn them over again."  
"Sounds interesting. Maybe you could teach me some of   
this martial arts stuff when we get to Rostaria. In exchange, I can   
teach you some things that'll help you draw more power from your   
lamp."  
Ranko smiled. "I'd like that--"  
Ranko was cut off when the flyer suddenly lurched and   
wobbled, like a small boat hitting a big wave. "What's going on?"   
she asked, a bit panicked.  
"I don't know," Shayla-Shayla replied, struggling to stand.   
"Something must be wrong with the flyer."  
The high fire priestess was able to make it over to the   
controls, and started working them, but nothing happened.  
"What are you doing?" Ranko asked, now standing next to   
Shayla.  
"Trying to straighten us out, but nothing is working. I think   
the controls are dead."  
"So how do we fix it?!"  
"We don't," Shayla-Shayla told her seriously, "We crash."  
  
Ranko stared at the crashed flyer, now half-buried in sand,   
as she waited for the fire priestess to pull whatever was useful from   
the wreck. She resisted the temptation to glance around them   
again, but she knew that her initial sight wouldn't change, sand as   
far as the eye can see in all directions.  
Shayla finally emerged from the wreck. Her face was   
smudged with smoke from when she had attacked the controls in   
anger and desperation, but there was now a gleeful smile on her   
face. She had a bag slung over a shoulder and a sphere-like object   
in one hand, wires dangling from it.  
"What's that?" Ranko asked, wondering what small thing   
could make her companion that cheerful considering their   
situation.  
"Compass," Shayla replied. "All we have to do is follow   
this and it'll lead us right to Rostaria. So pick me up and let's go."  
"Pick you up?"  
"I know you can fly somehow. I saw you when you fought   
the golem. So we still can fly to Rostaria, just not as comfortably.   
Afrua Mann and I travel this way all the time, so it's not too bad.   
Or would you rather walk?"  
"No, no," Ranko replied quickly. In all the confusion, she   
had forgotten about her strange ability to fly. "But I should warn   
you, I can't fly very fast."  
Shayla smirked. "Beats walking trough the hot sand."  
  
"Can't you go a little faster?" Shayla asked for the third   
time.  
Ranko resisted the urge to drop the high priestess. "I'm   
flying as fast as I can now. I told you I couldn't go very fast."  
Shayla stared at the ground far below them, "Yeah, but I   
think I can walk faster than this."  
"Well, I would be flying faster if I didn't have to carry   
someone."  
That quieted the fire priestess down quickly.  
  
"Uh, Ranko? Do you really mean to fly this close to the   
ground?" Shayla-Shayla asked an hour or so later.  
"How close are we?"  
"Let me put it to you this way, my shoes are getting grass   
stains."  
Ranko looked down just as the last of her flying power gave   
out, sending them both tumbling to the ground.  
"What was that about?" Shayla-Shayla asked with some   
irritation, sitting up and brushing the dirt out of her hair.  
"I don't know," Ranko admitted, sitting up herself and   
looking around. "My flying power began to get weaker and weaker   
until it just gave out completely. I've never used it for so long   
before. Guess there's some sort of time limit or something."  
The fire priestess nodded absently as she looked around.   
Vaguely familiar field, dirt road off in the distance. She had a   
pretty good idea of where they were.  
"Rostaria isn't too far from where were are now. We   
should be able to walk the rest of the way."  
"How long?"  
"A few hours. Should be a village or two along the way   
that we could stop and rest at. Are you up to it?"  
Ranko nodded. "Yeah, flying doesn't tire me out at all. It   
was carrying you that was a strain."  
"Are you remarking about my weight?" Shayla asked in a   
dangerous tone of voice.  
Ranko had managed to learn at least one thing about girls.   
No matter their actual weight, never, ever insinuate that they are   
fat. That is, if you want to live past the words coming out of your   
mouth.  
"No, no, no," Ranko said defensively, hands before her as if   
to ward off an attack. "It must be all the things that you were   
carrying."  
"Speaking of that," Shayla said as she opened her pack.   
"We might as well have lunch here."  
Ranko thanked the fire priestess for the food, relieved by   
the change of subject. She did not want to get her traveling   
companion angry at her for any reason. Not only was she a   
priestess with more power and experience than her, but she was   
also the only one who knew how to get where they were going.  
  
Traveling down the road towards Rostaria, they fell into   
talking again.  
"So have you got a guy or something back on your home   
world?" Shayla-Shayla asked suddenly.  
Ranko blinked. "A guy?" she repeated, not understanding   
the question.  
"You know, a boyfriend. Someone waiting for you to get   
back."  
Ranko immediately thought about Kuno and shuddered.   
Then she thought of Shampoo, Ukyo, and Akane. No, stuck as a   
girl, none of them would be waiting.  
"Not really," she replied after a moment of thought, and   
then decided to throw the question back. "How about you? You   
seem eager to get to Rostaria. Someone special for you waiting   
there?"  
Ranko couldn't help noticing her companion's light blush.   
"Well, sort of," Shayla admitted after a few moments. "I mean the   
guy is completely clueless and obsessed with ancient devices. He   
wouldn't know what to do with a woman if he had one, but still...   
he's like no other guy I've ever met before. I wasn't particularly   
nice to him when we first met, all right I was downright mean   
though I had my reasons, but then later he turns around and risks   
his life to save mine. I mean, he should have been walking into   
certain death, but didn't even hesitate for a second. It was like   
saving himself didn't even occur to him."  
Ranko smiled, both from the look in the fire priestess's   
eyes, and the thoughts of a person who her words had reminded   
Ranko of. Akane was like that too, marching right into danger to   
do what was right, heedless of the consequences. Though she   
sometimes caused more problems than solved that way, so she   
wasn't exactly sure if this was a positive thing or not.  



End file.
